


How to Tell if He is Interested in You

by IhaveAbadfeelingAboutThis



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Falling In Love, First Kiss, Fluff, Grindeldore Holiday Exchange, Grindeldore Holiday Exchange 2019, M/M, One Shot, Summer of 1899, Witch Weekly
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-20
Updated: 2019-12-20
Packaged: 2021-02-26 01:02:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,166
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21874867
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IhaveAbadfeelingAboutThis/pseuds/IhaveAbadfeelingAboutThis
Summary: What happens when Gellert finds Albus’ copy ofWitch Weekly?
Relationships: Albus Dumbledore/Gellert Grindelwald
Comments: 15
Kudos: 98
Collections: Grindeldore Holiday Exchange 2019





	How to Tell if He is Interested in You

**Author's Note:**

  * For [AlbusGellertAlways](https://archiveofourown.org/users/AlbusGellertAlways/gifts).



> Happy Holidays! Very pleased to get the opportunity to write for a writer whose work I enjoy so much <3 
> 
> Prompt: Summer of 1899 - Albus and Gellert confess their feelings in an unconventional way. Romance ensues.

It was just after lunchtime when Albus headed over to Madam Bagshot’s house to see Gellert. He tried to find an excuse to see Gellert every day. Not that he needed one – it seemed that Gellert had come to expect him every afternoon. Still, he didn’t want to wear out his welcome, so he tried always to have a particular reason to visit. Today he was coming with a present – a book published in 1723 about the Hallows, comparing different versions of The Story of The Three Brothers, and offering different interpretations of what it might mean to be ‘Master of Death.’ The owner of the used bookstore didn’t seem to know how valuable it was – Albus was shocked that he could afford it.

When Albus arrived, Gellert was still upstairs. It seemed impossible that he was still asleep, so Albus dropped his satchel in the sitting room and went into the kitchen to find some biscuits and make them some tea. Bathilda had been shopping evidently – there was a fresh tin of Albus’ favourite lemon biscuits in the pantry. He put some on a plate, together with the ginger biscuits that Gellert preferred. Albus wondered briefly if Gellert would taste like ginger if Albus were to kiss him, but he pushed that idea down. He already got to see Gellert every day – to sit next to him on the sofa, to study and argue and speculate, to take walks together. Sometimes Gellert even fell asleep with his head on Albus’ shoulder if they were up late reading. To want kissing too was just – greedy. And unrealistic, anyway.  
Albus prepared the tea and carried the tray with the teapot and the cups and the biscuits into the sitting room – and there stood Gellert. How had he come down the stairs so quietly? Gellert was smirking and reading – oh no. _Witch Weekly._ Albus hurriedly put down the tray. 

“Gellert! Give that here!”  
“Oh! Is this yours, then?” he said, smiling wickedly.  
Gellert must have pulled it out of his satchel, which meant he knew very well that it was Albus’. While in Diagon, the cover of the magazine had caught his eye, with its promise of ‘5 Simple Meals on a Budget!’ and ‘These Spells Make Cleaning a Snap!’ These were not the sorts of things taught at Hogwarts, and his mother had never gotten around to teaching either Albus or Aberforth how to keep house.

“Gellert! Just –“ Albus went to grab the magazine, and Gellert held it high over his head. Usually Albus liked that Gellert was a few inches taller than him, but this was not one of those times. Luckily, he knew exactly where Gellert was most ticklish. He gave Gellert a poke in the side, and he yelped and dropped the magazine. Albus pounced on the magazine, but he didn’t have it for long. Gellert dropped to the floor and began wrestling Albus for it. Having Gellert touching so much of his body all at once was very distracting. Gellert was moving against him and grabbing at him, and Albus could not focus on anything besides how it felt, so it was not surprising really when Gellert finally wrested the magazine away from him and leapt up with a triumphant shout. Albus was left sitting on the floor, breathless and blushing.

“It’s nothing to be ashamed of,” said Gellert, flipping through the magazine. “I am sure that there are many fine articles in here. Ah! Here’s one! ‘Keep your face looking fresh all day!’ Hmm. Yes. You do look particularly fresh faced today, Albus. The magazine must be working for you!”  
Albus, who had not yet stopped blushing, sat on the sofa and grumbled, “I got it for the housekeeping spells.”  
“Well, next time just ask Aunt Bathilda, instead of buying some horrid magazine! Interviewing the wives of members of the Wizengamot about how to throw the perfect dinner party, and so on…” 

Albus settled in for a thorough roasting. Once Gellert got going, there was no stopping him. May as well eat a couple of biscuits while he got on with it.  
Gellert was still standing, pacing sometimes, waving one arm for dramatic effect, as if he were giving a recitation.  
“Ah – here we go. Did you see this centre section? There are several pages – it’s a pull-out…” Gellert tore the section out and held it up for Albus to see.  
“ _Today’s Young Witch_ … Oh, this is wonderful...”  
Gellert started looking through the supplement, licking a fingertip (in a needlessly exaggerated manner) before turning each page. Albus looked down at his tea so he wouldn’t start blushing again.  
“Proper ballroom behaviour… How young is too young to begin courting… Ah! A quiz! Look at this, Albus! ‘How to tell if he is interested in you!’” Gellert began laughing. “There is a _quiz_ for that? How would you grade such a thing? Let’s see what sort of nonsense they are telling these poor girls.”

Gellert cleared his throat, and then in a mock serious voice, he intoned, “How to Tell if He is Interested in You – In Eight Easy Questions.” Gellert looked at Albus. “Yes, perfectly easy to tell if a man is interested in you,” he said rolling his eyes.  
Albus was uncertain what that meant. Was Gellert saying that it was so easy that they didn’t need a quiz, or that it wasn’t easy at all? And what would Gellert know about…

“Number One – Does he look at you for too long?”  
Gellert looked up at Albus and held his gaze for a bit before saying, “I wonder how long is too long?” He kept looking at Albus just long enough for Albus to begin feeling uncomfortable. 

Gellert looked down and continued,  
“Number Two – Does he find excuses to touch you?”  
Albus thought about Gellert leaning on him when he was sleepy. Sleepiness wasn’t an _excuse_ , though. Sleepiness was… sleepiness.  
But what about their tickle fights? And that earlier tussle over the magazine? Was that…? Surely not. 

“Number Three - Does he bring you little gifts?”  
Well, Albus was certainly not giving Gellert the book today. It was all too clear what that would look like now. 

“Number Four – Does he worry over you?”  
Albus remembered the day that he didn’t show up at the usual time because he was ill, and Gellert had come over to check on him, even knowing that Aberforth would make things difficult for him. As he stood in the doorway of Albus’ bedroom, he had said, ‘I’m sorry to bother you – I was concerned when you didn’t come over, but you need your rest, I see.’ Albus had insisted that he would like some company, so Gellert had gone to prepare him a cup of hot tea, and had read to him until he fell asleep.  
But that hadn’t been _worry_ , exactly. Gellert was just being a good friend. Albus was reading too much into this.

“Number Five – Does he remember your favourite things?”  
Albus noticed that Gellert was suddenly not so jovial, nor so mocking as he had been. His eyes were glued to the magazine, as if he were avoiding looking at Albus, or – no, that was the look he got when he was trying to work out the meaning of a difficult passage.  
Albus began to panic. Gellert must be beginning to realize how he felt about him. Why couldn’t Gellert have found the book when he was rooting around in Albus’ bag? Why had he found this stupid magazine? 

“Number Six – Does he want to see you every day?”  
“Well, how could you even know that?” Albus interrupted indignantly. “How could anyone know what another person wants? You only know what they do, how they behave!”  
“I want to see you every day,” said Gellert, looking Albus in the eyes.  
Was he saying…? He wasn’t. Was he?

“Number Seven - Does he tell you that you’re beautiful?”  
Gellert bit his lip and looked up at Albus before quickly looking back down. 

Gellert was quiet, looking at the magazine. What was he waiting for? Time seemed to stretch on endlessly. What was Gellert thinking about? Albus began to fidget. As he reached for another biscuit, he realized he had not yet offered one to Gellert.  
“Umm – Gellert? Did you want a ginger biscuit? I have poured you some tea.”  
Gellert looked up and smiled.  
“Ginger biscuits are one of my favourite things,” he said.  
Oh! ‘Does he remember your favourite things?’ Had Gellert said it that way on purpose?  
“I would be delighted to eat one in just a moment – I haven’t finished the quiz.” 

Gellert did not look down at the magazine at all, but continued looking at Albus.  
“Number Eight – Is he as obsessed with the Deathly Hallows as you are?”  
Albus’ eyes widened.

Gellert continued, “You are beautiful.”  
Albus laughed in relief. “I brought you a little gift.”  
Gellert smiled. “So, it’s safe to say that he’s interested in me?”  
“I think we should trust the quiz, don’t you?”  
“Absolutely. Solid journalism throughout.”  
“So – this means that I may also conclude that he’s interested in me?”  
Gellert flopped down next to Albus on the sofa. “You may.” 

Gellert reached out for Albus’ hand. Albus felt his chest tighten. His whole body grew warm, and his hand suddenly felt like the most sensitive part of his whole body. Then he calmed just enough to notice that Gellert’s hand was warm and strong. He never wanted to stop touching it. Albus began examining Gellert’s hand, running his fingers over Gellert’s knuckles, then lacing their fingers together. Gellert bumped his shoulder against Albus’. Albus bumped him back and Gellert laughed.  
“Thank you for preparing the tea and biscuits.”  
He picked up a ginger biscuit with his free hand and ate it, then picked up the cup of tea that Albus had prepared for him. 

“You know how I take my tea!” Gellert exclaimed.  
“Well, of course!” Albus said indignantly. “I pay attention.”  
“You’ve only known me three weeks.”  
“Not quite three weeks, but in that time I have seen you prepare your tea eighteen times. At least.”  
“So perhaps it was in fact nineteen times?” Gellert asked mischievously.

“Shut up,” Albus scolded fondly.  
“Nineteen and a half?”  
Albus rolled his eyes. “It was exactly nineteen and three-quarters. Now, would you like to see your gift?”  
“Mmm. Not yet,” said Gellert. “First I would like to kiss you.”  
_Kissing?_ Holding hands was already more than Albus had imagined was possible.  
“Really?”  
Gellert looked a little worried. “Only if you want to. We don’t have to if you don’t – “

Albus leaned towards Gellert a bit, but not all the way – leaving Gellert to close the gap. Albus noticed that Gellert’s lips did taste like ginger, and they were warm, and soft, and he hoped they could do it again – and they did, again and again. And then Gellert kissed him on his nose, and his cheek, and his neck, which made him squirm.  
“Ticklish, are you?”  
“No, I wouldn’t say that – let me show you.”  
So Albus kissed Gellert’s neck and Gellert breathed out, “Ohhhh!”

Albus kissed Gellert there one more time, just to hear him make that noise again -and truthfully also because he smelled particularly Gellert-ish right in that spot. And the skin there was so soft, and… there were a lot of reasons, actually. Perhaps he should kiss his neck a third time.  
But then Albus realized what they were _not_ doing. He scooted a small distance away down the sofa. “This is wonderful, but – we’ll still talk, right? And read? And – “  
“And make plans, and debate, and practice duelling… Yes, of course! You’re still my best friend, Albus. We’re just – also this, now.”

“Also this?” Albus echoed, being not exactly sure whether he wanted a label, but thinking maybe he did.  
“I – don’t know what we’re supposed to call it, but – even if I found someone else I liked talking to, you are the only person I want to see every day. I want your opinion about everything, I want you to help me think things through, and I want to kiss you all the time. Just you.”  
Just Albus. Gellert was just his. His only.  
“Me too. Just you. Always.”

They sat there simply looking at one another. Albus had never felt free to look at him so openly, having plenty of time to catalogue every detail without fear of discovery. Gellert was more and more attractive the longer Albus looked at him.  
“You are too far away!” complained Gellert. He crawled down the sofa towards Albus, and when he got there, he kissed Albus again, this time parting his lips slightly to suck Albus’ lower lip into his mouth. Albus groaned.

When Gellert released Albus’ lip, Albus suggested, “Maybe we don’t have to talk so much _today_. Maybe we could just kiss each other all afternoon, since we just got started.”  
“Ok,” said Gellert, agreeably, putting his mouth back on Albus’ neck.  
“You –“ Albus began, but he couldn’t finish the thought.  
He threaded his fingers in Gellert’s hair. He had wanted to touch it since first meeting him, and it was just as soft as it looked. Albus didn’t know where to put his other hand. He didn’t want to embarrass himself, or make Gellert uncomfortable. He began running his fingers slowly up and down Gellert’s back. Gellert made an appreciative sound. 

Gellert removed his mouth from Albus’ neck and smiled at him.  
Albus sighed happily. “That final question was reassuringly specific.”  
“The editor may have taken some liberties with the original material.”  
“I’m glad he did,” Albus said, kissing Gellert.

“I find myself looking for excuses to touch you.” Gellert pulled the ribbon out of Albus’ hair and gently unbraided it, so that it fell over his shoulders and down his back. “I’ve always wanted to do that. Your hair -”  
“No one ever sees it like this – this can be just for you. That is, if you - umm, if you like it. Like this.”  
"So much."

Their lips met one more time, and Albus tried running his tongue along Gellert’s lips. Gellert’s mouth gasped open, and Albus’ tongue ventured in – he was lost in all of the new sensations – it was like nothing he had felt before – so hot and soft and wet and so many different textures.  
Albus felt like gaps he had never noticed before were drawing closed until there was nothing at all separating him from Gellert.  
He was all mouth and heart and mind, and it felt as if he was falling, falling – falling? Albus was suddenly aware that they were, in fact, no longer upright, but lying down, and Gellert was on top of him. When had that happened? Albus broke off the kiss.

“Are you ok, Albus?” Gellert propped himself up. “Was that too much?”  
“It was so fast I didn’t notice it happening. Perhaps we need to slow down?”  
“Do we need to stop?”  
Gellert started to get up, but Albus grabbed him and pulled him back down.  
“Get back here. Slow and stop are two entirely different things. We’ve tried enough _new_ things today, but I was hoping we might spend some time – practicing the things we’ve done already.”

“Practicing?” asked Gellert, grinning.  
“Yes, I think that we might need _lots of practice._ ”  
“And when am I going to get my gift, in the midst of all of this practicing?”  
“I am not sure. It is very difficult to reach from here, and I am a bit – constrained.”  
“Yes, well, I’m afraid I’m stuck as well. I have this remarkable wizard underneath me, completely at my mercy, and if I move he might get away from me.”  
“Then again, he might have no desire to get away from you.”  
“Nevertheless, I think that my gift had better wait.”

Albus smiled up at Gellert. When had he ever been so happy?  
“You are beautiful. Extraordinary. I want to be with you every day, and learn all of your favourite things.”  
Gellert laid his hand on Albus’ chest.  
“ _You_ are my favourite thing. You are clever, and brave, and handsome, and interesting, and brilliant, and powerful… and I have just discovered that you are also an excellent kisser.”

And with that, Gellert kissed Albus again, and they kept kissing until the tea grew cold, and the clock chimed the hour for Albus to return home.  
They sat up, and Gellert came around to sit behind Albus to braid his hair. When he had finished, he kissed the back of Albus’ neck with an open mouth, and Albus moaned softly and leaned back against Gellert before remembering, “Gellert! I have to go.”

Albus got up off the sofa and straightened his clothing, while Gellert gazed up at him, as if he were trying to figure something out.  
“What is it?”  
“You. There is always more to you than I knew before.”

Gellert stood and held Albus tightly to him, and Albus imagined a world where he might never let go. Albus wished he didn’t have to leave so soon. He would have liked to eat dinner with Gellert, and to spend the night with him, and to wake up with him in the morning and kiss him some more. But he had responsibilities. He spun out of Gellert’s grasp, grabbed his copy of _Witch Weekly_ , and stuffed it in his satchel, seeing the book that he had brought for Gellert in the process. “I forgot – I never gave you your gift!”

Gellert waved the _Today’s Young Witch_ supplement. “You already gave me a gift today. Bring whatever it is tomorrow.”  
“Tomorrow,” agreed Albus, abandoning his satchel and walking back to give Gellert one last kiss.  
He rested his forehead against Gellert’s, repeating “tomorrow,” then gave him another kiss. (Really the last kiss this time, except no, this one is. The last one. Seriously. Last. Maybe just one more.) 

Finally, Gellert said quietly, “You could stay. Aunt Bathilda won’t be back until lunchtime tomorrow.”  
“No, Gellert, I can’t, I have to make dinner for Aberforth and Ariana, and then I have to clean, and –“  
Gellert smiled crookedly. “That’s right. You can’t stay. So, turn around, walk out the door, and come back tomorrow. I will watch your arse as you go.”  
Albus startled. “What?!”  
“I always do. You have a magnificent arse.”

Albus rolled his eyes, but he was more than a little pleased that Gellert had been admiring his body all this time, so he turned around and bent down to pick up his satchel, exaggeratedly thrusting his arse up, which caused Gellert to laugh.  
“Get out of here, you wicked thing, before I trap you here forever!”

Albus laughed too. He stood up, shouldered his satchel, and then turned to look at Gellert before heading out the front door. When he was almost out of sight, he looked back one last time, and saw Gellert standing in the doorway, watching him and smiling.


End file.
